while driving refer gets hot

[stuartkaye]

Hello,
I have a Dometic refrigerator in a 2008 classic limited. dometic refrigerator works great on electric and gas while parked.While driving i periodically check to make sure the gas light is still on and it remains lit. However the temperature just keeps climbing and things start to melt. I live in florida and keep the clc button on with max cool selected. Help please.

[toastie]

Originally Posted by stuartkaye

Hello,
I have a Dometic refrigerator in a 2008 classic limited. dometic refrigerator works great on electric and gas while parked.While driving i periodically check to make sure the gas light is still on and it remains lit. However the temperature just keeps climbing and things start to melt. I live in florida and keep the clc button on with max cool selected. Help please.

Read my post #795 and #800, the little fans work great............toastie

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f36/...-38289-57.html

[dznf0g]

Is there anything mounted on the roof in front of the top refer vent....other than what was there when built? If so, there could be turbulence around the vent not allowing the hot air to flow out of the refer box.
Was your unit subject to the dometic recall? If so was it done. It could be getting blown out, and relighting often while going down the road. I don't THINK that you get the error light, unless it is unsuccessful in relighting after X tries. Someone confirm or deny me on that.

[Phoenix]

Below are a couple of tips from previous posts:

To improve refrigerator performance, blue freezer packs are OK; but a slightly different approach is to freeze water bottles, then move them to the refrigerator section to help cooling. After they thaw, use them for chilled drinking water or swap them out with other frozen water bottles and return them to the freezer. Also, a small battery operated refrigerator fan like in the link below will circulate the air and improving cooling:

Camco 44123 RV Fridge Airator - Walmart.com

You might consider replacing the external refrigerator fan with a ball-bearing, 12-volt computer fan, which draws less electricity and is much quieter. We bought one of these at Fry's Electronics, but it's available at other electronics parts stores. Numerous other brands are probably just as good and about the same price:

Enermax UC-MA12 Magma 120mm Case Fan - 120mm, Twister Bearing Technology, Batwing Blade Design at TigerDirect.com

Also, to keep the propane burner from blowing out, I put a foam air conditioner filter (see link below) over the external opening before closing the louvered door on it. This allows unobstructed ventilation, but reduces air turbulence while driving that may blow out the burner flame.

15 in. x 24 in. x 1/4 in. Foam Room A/C FPR 2 Air Filter-F1524 at The Home Depot

Note: Looks like the above, but this might not be the right size. It's just cheap, thin, rubber-type foam.

[stuartkaye]

ok, wow i was having the problem of the gas blowing out on the road and the check lite comming on. i called Dometic and they sent me a baffle kit. talking to the airstream dealer,he said that would not work on an airstream and that i needed an airstream specific baffle kit. Calling airstream they said there is not one. what i did was install a piece of aluminum flashing next to the burner. it seemed to work but after what you've said maybe thats causing the heating. however again when not moving it works fine. I just pulled the flashing off and will get a small a/c filter to block the air and see if it works.
thank you very much, i'm hoping this works.

[Foiled Again]

Don't forget to climb up on the roof and check the exhaust vent - those things fill up with leaves or pine needles or a bird makes a nest inside and lo... there's no place for the heat to go! 2 minutes with a rubber glove pulling out the decaying leaves, etc. and you're frig starts to cool off because the retained heat is gone.

What prior posters said are all great ideas too!

Paula

[stuartkaye]

thank you i'll get up there tomorrow
i have been under trees for quite a while

[emdubyadee]

I saw several posts here where owners had mounted a home air conditioner filter inside the access door. This allows air to circulate but cuts down the volume so that the pilot light does not blow out.

See here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f287...ml#post1178464

and here:http://www.airforums.com/forums/f287...tml#post364010

other references to this are posted elsewhere.

I've been using it for a year and just completed a two week trip, 2,000 plus miles, with no problems of it blowing out.

[PhiDor]

Is there a baffle on the roof next to the refrigerator vent? There should be because without it you'll have ref. malfunction. I don't know the "whatever's" about it, but you need that baffle.

If that causes the gas to be blown out, when you check it, you're not moving, so it relights. Then you drive off and it gets blown out until you stop again when all seems well. Vicious circle!!

[Drathaar]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Below are a couple of tips from previous posts:

To improve refrigerator performance, blue freezer packs are OK; but a slightly different approach is to freeze water bottles, then move them to the refrigerator section to help cooling. After they thaw, use them for chilled drinking water or swap them out with other frozen water bottles and return them to the freezer. Also, a small battery operated refrigerator fan like in the link below will circulate the air and improving cooling:

Camco 44123 RV Fridge Airator - Walmart.com

You might consider replacing the external refrigerator fan with a ball-bearing, 12-volt computer fan, which draws less electricity and is much quieter. We bought one of these at Fry's Electronics, but it's available at other electronics parts stores. Numerous other brands are probably just as good and about the same price:

Enermax UC-MA12 Magma 120mm Case Fan - 120mm, Twister Bearing Technology, Batwing Blade Design at TigerDirect.com

Also, to keep the propane burner from blowing out, I put a foam air conditioner filter (see link below) over the external opening before closing the louvered door on it. This allows unobstructed ventilation, but reduces air turbulence while driving that may blow out the burner flame.

15 in. x 24 in. x 1/4 in. Foam Room A/C FPR 2 Air Filter-F1524 at The Home Depot

Note: Looks like the above, but this might not be the right size. It's just cheap, thin, rubber-type foam.

Any chance that you could post photos of what you have done here???

[tkowalyk]

Originally Posted by Drathaar

Any chance that you could post photos of what you have done here???

That would be a help. Especially on the fans.

Thanks

[withidl]

I previously posted the following: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...fle-91489.html

You'd think that the factory would have incorporated something like this by now, but I guess that the turbulence that blows the flame out is related to the aerodynamic of the assembly, i.e. the various shapes of tow vehicle create different types of "Airstream" turbulence along the side of the "trailer".

[Phoenix]

If you are referring to the changes I added, see below:

• The Camco Fridge Airator is just a small fan that we place at the bottom of the refrigerator near the back, pointing up at the radiator cooling coils. This fan takes up about the same space as a quart of milk, and the very slight breeze it creates is enough to even out the temperature inside the refrigerator. It works best if you don't block either the fan's input or output.

• The external refrigerator fan referenced in the posts above, is a direct replacement for the PC-type fan that came as original equipment. It uses the same mounting holes and hardware, and requires only connecting or splicing in the new wires.

• The foam air conditioner filter is installed by opening the bottom, louvered, exterior door that provides access to the refrigerator burner, centering the sheet of foam material over the opening, and shutting the door on it so that excess foam sticks out all around the door. This isn't a pretty installation; but it's quick, easy, and it works. If you wish, you can improve the cosmetic appearance by trimming the excess foam. For obvious reasons, make sure no filter material can possibly touch the burner or other hot parts.

[Drathaar]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

...Stuff Clipped...
The external refrigerator fan referenced in the posts above, is a direct replacement for the PC-type fan that came as original equipment. It uses the same mounting holes and hardware, and requires only connecting or splicing in the new wires...

Phoenix, I just checked our refrigerator, and its documentation, and found no fan or reference to it. If my memory lasted from AS to computer, it's a Dometic 3762. What refrigerator do you have? Is the fan stock from Dometic, or did you (or a previous owner) install it? I can easily wire in a computer fan, but I am not sure where it should be best placed to get maximum cooling. If you have a photo, that would really help.

[Phoenix]

The external fan is not part of the refrigerator. Airstream added this fan on some models to improve airflow across the external radiator fins on the back of the refrigerator.

I am unsure whether the 25-foot Flying Cloud has this fan, since it appears to have a roof vent that draws hot air out of this compartment like a fireplace chimney.

Our 19-foot Bambi has lower and upper louvered doors instead of a roof vent; and this fan draws cool air from the lower louvered door over the radiator fins, and exhausts the heated air out the upper louvered door.

I am unsure whether adding a fan would improve the performance of your refrigerator. Perhaps, others with your Airstream model can comment.

[cwf]

So far this has helped our cooling in fridge.





Lewster recommends installing toward roofline as these fans work better that way by pulling rather than pushing air

My intent was to assist convection over coils, not pressurize the fridge area. That could cause other issues such as pushing combustion gasses inside AS.

The amount of heat coming out the roof vent is greater when fans running.

[boondockdad]

Keeping ours cool, was as simple as keeping the interior fins totally unobstructed. Air movement inside is completely passive (unless you're using a battery-op fan), and I've found keeping the very top tray (on ours, it's right level with the fins) empty keeps it nice and cold.